


A Goodbye

by scarvesandjumpers



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Established Character Death, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Spoilers, i am incapable of writing pure angst tbh, julia and maggie are the focus but there are mentions and hints towards the others, post story and song pt 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-02 04:18:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11501610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarvesandjumpers/pseuds/scarvesandjumpers
Summary: After the final battle, Magnus says goodbye.





	A Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> This basically takes place in an endgame where kravitz does a return-of-the-king style move where he summons a bunch of souls from the astral plane and has them help fuck shit up and win against the hunger. So, that in mind, enjoy.

The smoke was thick. Magnus felt as if he were wrapped in it like a thick fleece blanket, itchy and stiff. He coughed as he made his way through the wreckage of the moon base, eyes stinging from the ash in the air. Despite the smoldering remains of his home of one year, cheers and cries of joy filled the air. He smiled to himself, looking over his shoulder and stifling a cough as he watched Carey and Killian as they picked through the stone-and-steel remains of the once mighty Fantasy Costco, laughing at some joke or another. Angus sat to the side on Noelle's shoulders, supervising with the utmost seriousness as they dug around for left over goodies. Magnus would join them after, he decided.

It would be wonderful to introduce Carey to her. She'd heard so much about her during their friendship - secrets and pains he'd not even dared to share with Taako and Merle. "She sounds like she was an amazing woman, Mango," she'd said one night. "You were damn lucky to have her." He'd happily agreed, and decided in that very moment that she was his best friend.

But that would come later, he thought cheerfully. He needed to find her and the rest of the family, regroup, attend to his wounds and maybe cry a little bit more about the mere fact that she was there. He all but skipped his way through the familiar pathways that looped around the Bureau, a wide smile on his face that only grew bigger when he saw his friends - his family - crowded around a small blue fire (Taako's work, probably) in the remains of Lucretia's office.

Taako and Lup were sitting shoulder to shoulder on her desk, hands curled tight together and feet tangled. Barry was sat behind his lover, legs on either side of Lup's, arms wrapped tight around her skeletal neck and eyes shut (probably dead asleep). Kravitz - now there was a surprise - was carding a dark, long-fingered hand through Taako's messy, blood-streaked hair, and though Taako didn't turn to him, Magnus knew he was keenly aware of his every touch.

Lucretia was off to the side, unsure even now, and Davenport and Merle were in front of her. Each held one of the Director's hands. Lucretia was near tears. Magnus was glad some of them could forgive her so easily. Her shoulders shook now and then, and Magnus wondered how receptive she would be to a hug.

And then there was Julia. His Julia.

She was solid, but not solid. Her broad smile was softer now as she looked over the people she'd only just met, and just looking at her Magnus could tell she felt the same fierce protectiveness that he felt for them. Her skin was ashy, but still familiar, every color, from her hair to her eyes the same, just.... duller in the form she was taking. Her soul. Her beautiful, beautiful soul, and God, he was able to touch her. He'd been able to touch her, hold her in his arms again, and if it weren't for the fact that they were in the middle of the most intense and high-stakes battle of his life when they were reunited Magnus was certain he would have been happy to just say fuck it for an hour or two and just hold her.

Magnus tried to approach the group slowly, subtlety, not wanting to disrupt the mood, but seeing Julia again made him naturally break out into a sprint. She spotted him coming almost immediately and broke out into a big, toothy smile as he reached her. She'd never liked her smile, said it squished up her face, too much mouth too little everything else, but to him it was the most beautiful thing in all of creation, in every reality that had been, will be, is being. Magnus threw his arms around her, eyes watering and stinging as he held her and breathed her in. Her natural smell was so, so familiar, and he hated that he'd nearly forgotten it before now. He sniffed loudly, and Julia laughed. "Don't get me all boogery, Burnsides."

Magnus giggled , nuzzling into her neck and kissing , kissing, kissing, kissing. Her arms were tight around his neck, and he couldn't stop smiling. He'd never stop smiling. Istus. He'd never forget this moment. Ever. "I missed you so much, Jules."

A staggering silence cut through the air. A specific sort of silence.

Magnus's head lifted, and he wiped at his tears with a smile, looking around at his family. All eyes were on him - save for Kravitz's. "What? Something on my face?"

Kravitz grimaced.

The Reaper squeezed Taako's shoulder - he gave him a tight smile, then let him go and watched him approach Magnus. He couldn't help but feel a little on edge seeing him so close. "Hey, man, don't.... look at me like that, I'm not gonna hurt ya bud. If Merle can get over shit, so can I. And - I mean, you reunited me with Julia. Julia!" He laughed, shaking his head. He leaned in and shared a kiss with her, which she happily gave. When they parted she was biting her lip, avoiding his eyes. They seemed wet.  
Kravitz took another step towards the two, crimson eyes wide. "Magnus...." He hesitated yet again. ".... Julia.... Isn't here to stay."

Well.

"Mm. Nope," Magnus chirped. He turned back to Julia, taking her hand and herding her away from Kravitz, away from whatever he was saying. "Nope. No way. That? That's stupid. That's a stupid fucking thing you just said, Reaper dude."

Kravitz's expression fell even harder, and he sighed, a hand pressing at the fluffy poof of his tied back hair. "Magnus.... She doesn't belong here. This - it was a temporary thing. The dead are meant to stay dead."

"Mm, right, well. That's bullshit. That's bullshit, right Jules?" He asked, eyes locked on his wife. Julia sighed, hand through her hair. She clenched her eyes shut.

Silence.  
  
"..... Julia?"  
  
She opened her eyes. Wet. ".... Magnus."

Magnus's heart stopped. And stopped. And stopped.

"No. No, no, no, no, Julia - " He grabbed her hands, squeezed desperately, chest heaving. His skin felt tight, his head pounding loud, throbbing out of his skull. Julia squeezed his hands back, hushing and soothing him. He remembered waking up in the dead of night from nightmares filled with static and void and then Julia, Julia's hands and soothing hushing and cooing, rubbing his back and bringing him back to reality, reminding him of all the things he knew, all the people who loved him. And then she died, and Steven died everything was - everything was - was -

He broke.

Magnus begged. He begged, he pleaded, sinking to his knees and grasping at her skirts with a white-knuckle grip and body trembling. "Please," he gasped. "Gods, please, you can't - you can't just - Julia, I need you, I'm not strong enough to say - say go-goodbye again, Gods, I can't - "

And then Julia was on her knees, too, rubbing his broad back and pressing her face into his hair.   
  
He wasn't sure how long he sat there, crying and gasping and begging. He felt overfull and empty all at once, face puffy and raw and burning. Julia's cold, cold hands smoothed over his back. His hands smoothed up to her shoulders, and one of hers tucked into his hair. She kept petting him and comforting him, and he let her, and no one stopped her, and he wanted this to just be his reality forever, forever and ever.

But it had to end. Of course it did.

"He's right," Julia said softly. He nearly started sobbing again, but held it back. Barely. "He's right, Maggie. I have to go. My time here is over, I - " He shook his head, tears trembling down again. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. "Magnus. It's not forever." But it might as well have been - he was no longer in any rush to die, didn't feel ready to embrace it the moment it appeared.

Kravitz approached, hands at his sides, head bowed. ".... I'm sorry, Magnus. I really, truly am."  
He nodded. Of course he was, he didn't doubt that. This wasn't his choice. It wasn't anyone's choice, and he understood that. He really did. But that didn't make him happy.

"....But.... Maybe there's something I can do."

Magnus's head shot up, and he stared at him, eyes wide. Kravitz flinched, then straightened his shoulders. He nodded once. Behind him, Taako slipped from the desk and went behind him. He rested a hand on his back, and they exchanged a look. Taako's eyes went wide.

"Oh. No doy - Stone of Farspeech."

Magnus looked between them, then to Julia, eyes wide. "Oh. Oh, Shit, are you - "

Julia brightened up, shifting on her knees, arms thrown around his neck. "Of course! Shit, why the hell didn't we think of that? Gods, I'm fucking stupid!"

"No you're not," Magnus said quickly, squeezing her shoulders and laughing. "You're amazing and beautiful and I love you and Taako, hope it's cool that I smooch the shit out of your creepy boyfriend real quick!" Magnus shouted as he shot to his feet, reaching for the Reaper and doing just that. Kravitz, face burning bright, arms flapping inelegantly at his side, nearly fell over from Magnus's weight. Taako grumbled fondly at the two, ("Dude, gross. You can keep him now. Ew.") but made no move to stop them.

Lots of things happened then. Taako magicked up a pair of Stones for out of a bit of rubble, happily turning one pink at Magnus's request, and made a matching one in green for Julia. Magnus had never been good with the old one - too many buttons - but he listened raptly to every instruction Taako gave, making sure that he and Julia were perfectly synced up. Kravitz even went so far as to hop into the Astral plane to test it.  
It worked perfectly.

 

They spent the rest of the day together. They never had a chance to say goodbye before, so they made sure they had a whole day to do so - it wasn't a forever goodbye, or even an 'until you die' goodbye. Just a temporary one. He told her all about his friends and the shenanigans they got up to - both before they met and after she passed away - and felt no need to rush every story into one evening. They'd have time to talk later, as often as they wanted. Kravitz even mentioned trying to bring her for a visit now and then.

When Magnus said goodbye, they kissed. And the best, most rewarding part of it was that he knew it wasn't their last goodbye - just A Goodbye.

"I love you, Jules."

"I love you, too, Maggie. Stay safe."


End file.
